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Monday, December 14, 2009

Too Many Too Soon?

We are at the tail end of production for our annual PWI Achievement Awards issue. Most of the pages have been sent electronically to the printing plant, including our listing of 2009 title changes. After TLC, we have some revisions to make.

Generally speaking, I like the idea of WWE giving major pushes to young talent. And I really do not worry about a young wrestler being given too much responsibility too soon. If it doesn't work out, after all, there is ample opportunity to put the belt back on a more established star. (Besides, I like what Sheamus and McIntyre have to offer, and I think those other two kids will work out, too.)

I just wonder why WWE would want to put belts on Sheamus and McIntyre on the same night. It gives me the impression that they are forcing this youth movement down our throats, like all of a sudden they realized that the normal rotation of headliners was getting stale and they had to make a radical adjustment. Is WWE trying to send a message to the established superstars that they are replaceable and that they should not be overly demanding come contract time?

2 comments:

Giving Sheamus and McIntyre respective title runs has definitely sparked a renewed interest in the main event and mid-card booking for me. Speculation as to why this decision was made can point to various theories: to shake their consistently stagnant ratings, to rebutt the online rumour mills that report WWE "giving up" on creating new stars with several young talent, and so forth. I personally believe it may have a little something to do with March of '10. Can't put my finger on it... I know there's SOMEthing going on around that time...

Maybe giving these newcomers the titles for a few months will help them earn respectable title runs for a decent build-up towards their respective 'Mania bouts. If I'm not mistaken, with the exception of Edge, both Triple H and John Cena have been main-eventing 'Wrestlemania' as WWE Champions for the past six years (since 'Wrestlemania XX'). A few new faces on both the top- and lower- tiers going into 'Mania may answer those critics who warn that the next wave of 'Wrestlemania' headliners six years from TODAY can't be ones that have headlined in 1998. Yes, Shawn Michaels versus Steve Austin made for a classic 'Wrestlemania XIV' bout, but I hesitate in bringing friends over to watch Shawn Michaels main event 'Wrestlemania' in 2016. So any work towards making new stars today can only be seen as progress. Assuming the newcomers retain in March, of course. The 'Wrestlemania' rub can't hurt, regardless.

Whatever the reason for the supposed WWE 'youth movement', one thing is clear - where there's speculation, there's attention.